AP Psychology : Classifications and Procedures

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #21 : Classifications And Procedures

Which of the following techniques is used when professionals need to observe waves of electrical activity produced by the brain's neurons?

Possible Answers:

PET scans

EKG

EEG

MRI

fMRI

Correct answer:

EEG

Explanation:

EEG is the only technique listed in the possible answers section capable of monitoring an electrical current. EEGs, electroencephalograms, are amplified waves of the electrical activity that are found along the surface of the brain. 

Example Question #22 : Classifications And Procedures

In a study of the effects of a vegetarian diet on primate reaction time, the control group should be given which of the following treatments?

Possible Answers:

No change in diet (i.e. normal zoo diet)

No meat at all

A vegetarian diet

A diet of fish instead of red meat

A half portion of meat

Correct answer:

No change in diet (i.e. normal zoo diet)

Explanation:

The control group in an experimental procedure is designed to provide an unaltered comparison to the experimental or treatment group. The control group in a study of the effects of a vegetarian diet would eat a normal, non-vegetarian diet (or whatever diet the animals ordinarily receive at the zoo).

Example Question #23 : Classifications And Procedures

In an experiment, three groups are given one of the following: very spicy food, moderately spicy food, or bland (non-spicy) food to eat. Afterwards they are asked to perform exercise. Food spiciness represents which of the following variables in this experiment?

Possible Answers:

Confounding variable

Independent variable

Extraneous variable

Dependent variable

Lurking variable

Correct answer:

Independent variable

Explanation:

Independent variables cause change in the dependent variable of an experiment. In this experiment, food spiciness would cause a change in the dependent variable—exercise performance. This variable was changed throughout the experiment in order to measure the induced effect on the subject’s ability to exercise. Remember that while spiciness is sometimes seen as a matter of personal taste, there is at least one quantitative system for measuring it: the Scoville scale.

Example Question #24 : Classifications And Procedures

Psychologist Dr. Schwab watches a four-year-old, Ryan, play with others at pre-school through a one-way window. He observes that Ryan exhibits aggressive behavior when playing with others. Afterwards, Dr. Schwab watches carefully for future acts of aggression. Which of the following types of psychological assessments is Dr. Schwab using to assess Ryan?

Possible Answers:

Self-report

Behavioral assessment

Clinical interview

Projective test

Intellectual assessment

Correct answer:

Behavioral assessment

Explanation:

Dr. Schwab is using a behavioral assessment. He is identifying and measuring target behaviors and their controlling variables in an individual's natural environment.

Example Question #25 : Classifications And Procedures

 Researchers want to examine if a new drug helps treat depression. They assign participants into two groups. One group receives the drug and the other group receives a sugar pill. In this case the sugar pill is the __________

Possible Answers:

placebo

solution 

treatment

identifier 

Correct answer:

placebo

Explanation:

A placebo is an inert substance that participants believe is the actual treatment or drug. Placebos have been found to be, in some cases, effective in treatment, and they have also been used to test the efficacy of drugs.

Example Question #26 : Classifications And Procedures

Researchers want to examine if video games cause violent behavior in children. They assign participants to two groups, one group plays a violent video game and the other group plays a nonviolent video game. Then the researchers observe the behavior of the children. This experiment is a __________ design.

Possible Answers:

quasi-experimental 

correlated-groups

within-subjects

between-subjects

Correct answer:

between-subjects

Explanation:

A between-subjects design involves using different participants in the control and experimental groups. There is no overlap in the conditions. Within-subjects design uses the same participants in multiple treatments.

Example Question #27 : Classifications And Procedures

What is a problem with surveys?

Possible Answers:

They are difficult to perform

It can be hard to get honest answers on certain subjects

It is impossible to get a representative population

They are not objective

Correct answer:

It can be hard to get honest answers on certain subjects

Explanation:

Surveys rely solely on answers that were given to the participants therefore in certain categories (like in sex studies) subjects may give false answers in order to maintain social order. Although it is difficult to get a representative sample of the population, it is possible to get a sample that is large enough and random enough to represent the whole population. Survey questions can readily be made to be objective. Surveys are relatively easy to perform once participation is addressed.

Example Question #101 : Research And Testing

Which of these is a possible problem with case studies?

Possible Answers:

People tend to lie

They are not based in science

They do not provide an in-depth picture

They can lead to over-generalization of a condition

Correct answer:

They can lead to over-generalization of a condition

Explanation:

Since case studies only involve one situation, they may lead to the over-generalization of a condition that is rare and/or specific to a certain situation. 

Example Question #101 : Research And Testing

A pharmaceutical researcher is studying a potential new drug for treatment of depression. A sample of 40 individuals with severe depression sign up for his clinical trial. Half of the patients are given the drug in addition to their current treatment, and the other half of the patients are given sugar pills in addition to their current treatment. The researcher had a computer system randomly assign the participants into the two test groups and does not know what patients are in which group. This example would best be described as which of the following study types?

Possible Answers:

Double-blind

Open study

Correlational 

Single-blind

Correct answer:

Double-blind

Explanation:

This example is a double blind study. In a double blind study, both the subjects and researchers do not know which individuals are given the placebo and which are given the actual treatment. This type of study can control for the placebo effect and researcher bias. 

Example Question #28 : Classifications And Procedures

A psychologist in Texas wants to assess if high school standardized tests scores are an accurate predictor of college students’ GPA. He conducts a survey of 1,000 students on his university campus. Which of the following is the population of this particular study?

Possible Answers:

All college students that have taken standardized tests

All college students at the psychologist's university

The college students in the psychologist' class

All college students in Texas

Correct answer:

All college students that have taken standardized tests

Explanation:

The population would be all the college students that have taken standardized tests in the country the psychologist resides in because a population is all the possible individuals in a group that a sample can be pulled from. It is most likely not possible that the researcher would be able to include the entire population in his study due to the large size.

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